Determination of several elements in duplicate meals from catering establishments using closed vessel microwave digestion with inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry detection: estimation of daily dietary intake

Abstract

An estimation of the dietary exposure of French consumers to 21 essential and non-essential mineral elements using duplicate meals (breakfast and lunch) purchased from catering establishments was investigated after digestion by a closed vessel microwave procedure and quantification by ICP-MS. Daily dietary exposure estimates for metals and minerals were compared with the Provisional Tolerable Weekly Intakes (PTWI), the Tolerable Daily Intake (TDI) or the Acceptable Daily Intakes (ADI), as established by the FAO/WHO to estimate the risk of toxicity, and the US Recommended Daily Allowances (US RDA) or the Estimate Safe & Adequate Daily Dietary Intakes (ESADDI). Moreover, comparisons were made with those from previous French studies as well as those from other countries. The estimated mean daily intakes were 11 μg for lithium, 3.42 g for sodium, 192 mg for magnesium, 2.03 mg for aluminium, 3.64 g for potassium, 642 mg for calcium, 154 μg for chromium, 12.3 mg for iron, 2.15 mg for manganese, 4 μg for cobalt, 74 μg for nickel, 925 μg for copper, 10.2 mg for zinc, 147 μg for arsenic, 66 μg for selenium, 112 μg for molybdenum, 3.6 μg for cadmium, 2.32 mg for tin, 3 μg for antimony, 9 μg for mercury and 34 μg for lead. For the non-essential (toxic) elements, aluminium, tin, antimony, cadmium, arsenic, mercury and lead, the daily intake estimates were far below tolerable limits; and similar or somewhat lower than their respective PTWI, ADI, TDI, ESADDI and US RDA for individual minerals and essential trace elements, with good agreement with other country studies. The performance of the multi-elemental ICP-MS technique was also evaluated.